Nike Sneakers - Kudos

I am not very fond of mainstream brands. Our family does not eat at McDonald's or at fast food restaurants in general. I do not care for either the Dallas Cowboys or the New York Yankees. My wife and I do not currently own any Ford or Chevy vehicles. By the same token, in the past I have not been very fond of Nike footwear because of it's identity as the preeminent manufacturer of mainstream athletic footwear and their pervasive marketing campaigns.

I own three pairs of Nike sneakers ; Nike Vomero 4, LunarFly+, and LunaRacer +2. I love each pair of these shoes.

I use the Vomeros as durable everyday trainers. Why do I like the Vomeros ? I am not a heel strike runner - I place a premium on forefoot cushioning when evaluating my comfort with a prospective sneaker. The Vomeros have a level of forefront cushioning that I have not found equaled on any other shoe I have trained with to date. For whatever reason, it appears the majority of sneakers made today have a large part of their design centered upon heel cushioning.

I use the LunaryFly+'s primarily for tempo and interval work. These shoes are lighter than the Vomeros and have a tighter fabric-like weave than the open mesh of the Vomeros. My LunarFly+'s are black - this is fine for the winter, but the jury is still out for the summer in terms of overheating my feet. I ran seven miles in these yesterday and I felt like I was floating on air during the entire run. Again, these sneakers have excellent forefoot cushioning.

I have not run in the LunaRacer+2's to date. As the name implies these sneakers are very lightweight road racing sneakers. My initial impression of the sneakers from walking around in the house with them is they also have excellent forefront cushioning. I will run 10-15 miles in these shoes before I break them out for my next race at the Ukrops Monument Ave 10K race in April.

I have to give Nike credit for the excellent product line I have been exposed to so far. While I am sometimes overwhelmed by Nike's presence on athletic equipment in general, I am grateful for their contributions toward running footwear.

I should mention I am regarded a Clydesdale runner, weighing in at 195 pounds.